Question of the Week: 95 - 1/19/2003How Do You Feel About War?‘Yes I'm talking about this war dance/ A patriotic romance./And I know all you poets/Have seen it all before…’ – Colin Moulding, XTC

Colin: ‘The words were originally prompted by the Falklands War in 1982. But it was too much on one piece of history. Then along came the Persian Gulf War and I put the revised lyrics to a new piece of music. It was time to bring war out of the closet again.’

And again, it would seem. How do you, from your own spiritual perspective or tradition, view and/or cope with the ideals and realities of war and armed conflict?

Do your political leanings influence how you feel?

Do you have a difficult time explaining/defending/advocating your position to other Pagans or Heathens? Non-Pagans?

I say NO WAR IN IRAQ !!. I am really concerned with the blatant oil grab of the Bush government and their oil buddy Blair. They already have plans on taking the oil fields (securing them) Apparently now Bush is willing to hold off for a few weeks to drum up support for this war with other countries, guess what, the U.S. is offering to divy up the oil with them, it won't just be Britian and the U.S. having it all for themselves. I have also read and heard on the news that the U.S. will use NUCLEAR WEAPONS, in Iraq, as retaliation for or as a PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE if they think that Iraq is POSSIBLY, going to use chemical or biological weapons. Yup , the U.S. has them little NUKES, they call them bunker-busters, isn't that cute, little bombs , lots of radiation! Bear in mind that Iraq, has attacked NO ONE. If the U.S. does attack Iraq though that would be considered a breach of International Law, and the U.S, and it's allies could be tried as war criminals, now the U.S. did not want to sign on to this treaty, because good old Henry Kissinger would be tried as a war criminal.Britian did sign this treaty,though. So did Canada. A group of about 100 lawyers world wide has sent nice letters of warning to Mr. Bush & Mr Rumsfield, saying they would make every attempt to have them tried as WAR CRIMINALS!! Indeed they would be!! I am going to remind all the people who read these letters that the U.S. has been the only country ever in the world to unleash the worst weapon of mass destruction on Japan, they did it for maximum damage and fried , burnt, melted thousand of innocent civilians. No other country has ever done this since. Someone has been saying things on this site that are so smug & unbelievably true I must correct them. The U.S. actually produces very little, that is why they are running such huge trade deficits, that means they are buying lots more then they are selling.So much of what we but is made in third-world countries, that American corporations exploit for cheap labour. NIKE, GAP et al. If Canada was invaded and some turned a blind eye, the U.S. would actually lose in a huge way, why? because they import our oil and our electricity. the U.S. is a huge energy hog and can't go without it's Canadian supply.Oh and the communist party is printing signs is such a blatant bit of propoganda, you should be ashamed you even said that, your fellow Americans & citizens from all the other countries in this world are free to say their opinions, that does not make them communists, what if they printed the signs themselves. McArthyism was a black mark in the history of America, are you attempting to repeat it? I could go on there is so much more, covert wars and overthrown democracies, regime changes that were in the interests of the U.S.. DON'T make the same mistake in Iraq, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WILL DIE!

WAR IS WRONG, its just an excuse for world leaders to play with their toys. they dont kare how it affects nebody but themslves and dont listen 2 ne1 elses opnion, sum1 should strip them of theyre power bcoz its pefetic.

I think my spiritual perspective is heavily mixed with my upbringing as a Catholic, an Army Brat and my political leanings. I really can't separate them in the case of war. I especially don't see a reason why a person believing in a triple God/Goddess-tradition should be totally against conflict. After all, one of the incarnations of the God is as Warrior. And who can ignore the Morrigan? Then there's Athena and Ares.

I am a Dove. I am a pacifist. I dislike war. However, I was raised to realize that war is an evil necessity in SOME cases. The best case in point is, of course, WW2. How else would Hitler have been stopped if not by a war. And if Hitler had been allowed to continue, what kind of society would we have now? I don't even want to imagine it.

About this particular war that we are talking about, I don't agree with it. I believe it is both foolish and motivated by greed or stupidity. (I'm not sure which) However, I will support to my dying day the troops we send over because it is my honor and privilege to know what a hard task they have before them, and to know that they will lay down their lives for mine. No matter what I think of the bureaucracy, the troops are those that will suffer loss of life, limbs and peace of mind.

We seem to be heading that way, no matter how many protests we wage, or words we use. When it starts, we must concentrate on the well-being of the men and women serving in each military as well as the civilians that will be affected by it. Let us simply hope it is as bloodless as possible.

I feel I have no trouble supporting my conflicting views to anyone, simply because they are my views and I think that war is one of the cases where logic, as lovely as it is, doesn't truly apply.

"How do you, from your own spiritual perspective or tradition, view and/or cope with the ideals and realities of war and armed conflict?"

War isn't pleasant, but it's a natural expression of basic human nature and tendancies, and it cannot be denied that it serves a significant purpose in our society -- I would even argue that it is necesary in many cases. Still, it must be acknowledged that there must be limits placed on war and how it is carried out. It must also be pointed out that not all armed conflicts count as war -- genocide, for example, is not war, as the object of war is to establish domanance over people/territory, not totally eliminate a nationality.

I admit that it does seem nice to want a world without war, but I don't think human nature allows for this. The most we can do is be as intellegent as possible about it and make sure that millitary force is what's required for a given situation, and when it does come down to war, do it as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Do your political leanings influence how you feel?"

Perhaps. I place an importance on using military force to protect US borders from outside threats.

"Do you have a difficult time explaining/defending/advocating your position to other Pagans or Heathens? Non-Pagans?"

Not really. There are always those people that claim that true pagans don't advocate war, but those poeple usually aren't interested in hearing my side anyway, so I don't bother to present it. Bottom line is some people are willing to listen, whether they disagree or not, and some people aren't. Most people who are willing to listen are intellegent enough to respect the fact that my beliefs differ from them -- something very important for someone who would participate in a community with such diverse beleifs as modern Paganism.

I think war is a bad thing. No one should have to go out and fight and loose their life for something stupid. Most wars are over something very stupid and there is no use in fighting them. The war that is going on now is stupid. I say this because we did nothing to Irac and they just up and decided to bomb us. Just because they don't like the way that we are untied and how we get slong. I think that they should follow what we do and become united and not go and bomb a country. What they did was ideotic and it should have never happened. In the past there were wars that were faught for good reasons, but some of those reasons were stupid. I think that there should be no wars and everyone should keep their oppinons to themselves if it is based on something bad. The United States got its name because we were once united and we plan to stay that way. No war shall keep us from living in peace and getting on with our lives.

No one loves to fight. Perhaps I'm wrong. There are people out there who are against peace. A good example are the terrorists themselves. They were the cause of war. There's no such thing to me as war; as it goes to no such thing as coincidences to us witches. Every little situation here starts with a cause. There's no one to blame when people think different, like a mental illness. We can't be helped if we can't help ourselves--the only way we could get out of this mess. Since we're already in war, I just pity the army out there; they are sitting in the desert, helping the American's fight for a piece of peace! I wonder if someday, everyone would think alike, not different. Just like how my friend oppose to Paganism while I think that Pagan's aren't that bad. That's because she doesn't know that there are positive and negative sides of a Pagan, and that's why people are in war with only one word: confusion. I hope one day, everyone would share a piece of peace within themselves, so that we don't have to suffer through war. Blessed Be.

I agree with most...War really is a terrible thing. Innocent lives are lost...on both sides. It is too bad that the head of each country couldn't go into a ring and beat the crap out of one another to determine the winner, but this is wishful thinking. With day comes night, with life comes death, and with peace comes war (unfortunately). Not every person on this earth shares the same morals and values as some of us do. Because of this, aggression will mount, minds will clash, and war is inevitable. Most people out there do the best they can, and what they think is right…including America. It pains me to read such animosity from other countries towards America, especially over this issue. The US could have done many things differently to prevent us from being in this situation…but it didn’t…. and here we are. War is wrong, but the US is officially stuck between a rock and a hard place. As I said, I do not agree that war is the right answer, but as an American I will stand behind my country. I believe as a world power that has been attacked, we have a moral obligation to defend ourselves, and protect the safety of other countries…. Yes, even those countries that find us arrogant and intimidating. And I do believe that if Mr. Saddam is not stopped, America and MANY other countries will be in danger. Our country isn’t perfect by no means…(if we were, we wouldn’t be a country, we would be the world), but America has given me many freedoms that I wouldn’t have else where (freedom of religion being one of them), and if war is believed to be the only solution than I will fight for my country and stand behind it 100% (ok…99%).

I think this war is about oil and oppression of Muslim peoples. I do not think it will stop with Iraq. I think Bush's agenda is to get the minds of Americans off terrorist threat "9/11" and on a revenge effort. Somehow he is convincing folks that the Iraqi people equal AlQuida. This I believe is un supported but I think he depends on a small group of ultra conservatives to breath the fire and hope the rest of us are too scared to say whoa. Well, I think he depends on folks being afraid to speak up the this era of labeling disenters as terrorist. I think we had better get over that fear though if we want to be able to continue living in a fairly democratic society. There are those right in the current administration who think we have too many freedoms, and that all of us who abhor injustice are "pinko commies". I pray Americans wake up before it is too late. I for one do not want the war in my name. I have no need to control others who are not a threat to me. Even Bush and his cabinet admit Iraq really is not a threat to us right now. The key to understanding the injustice of Bush's desert storm is the word he always says "potential". Well American attacking Iraq will not be a potential. The devestation on both sides will be real.

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